Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Scheduling for an Electric–Hydrogen Integrated Station Using a Data-Driven Electrolyzer Model

Abstract

To address the inaccurate scheduling of electric–hydrogen integrated stations (EHISs) caused by the limited accuracy of conventional mechanistic models for proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, this study proposes a deep reinforcement learning (DRL)-based scheduling strategy incorporating a data-driven electrolyzer model. First, a deep XGBoost model is developed to characterize the hydrogen production behavior of the PEM electrolyzer, thereby replacing the traditional mechanistic model and reducing prediction errors. Second, the EHIS scheduling problem is formulated as a constrained Markov decision process (CMDP) that explicitly considers user demand and carbon emission constraints. Third, an improved deep Q-network (DQN) algorithm integrating Lagrangian relaxation and the template policy-based reinforcement learning (TPRL) method is designed to solve the scheduling problem, which enhances convergence speed and generalization performance under similar operating scenarios. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively alleviate the decision-making risks introduced by model inaccuracies and significantly improve the operational profitability of the station while satisfying user demand and carbon emission constraints.